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Coaching Blog

Research on coaching for CEO's

26/12/2013

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Interesting research from: GRETCHEN GAVETT associate editor at the Harvard Business Review. Follow her on Twitter @gretchenmarg.

http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/08/research-ceos-and-the-coaching/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social%20Media&utm_campaign=dean
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A sound mind in a healthy body....!

23/8/2013

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So you're sat at your computer again, wondering about how tired and lethargic you feel, how you eyes ache and how you can't sleep at night!

As Coaches, we try to look at a holistic approach to the client's well-being. This takes a number of different forms but can loosely be summarised as Mind, Spirit and Body.

Mind

We all know that learning doesn't end at school or university, it's an ongoing process throughout our lives even when we don't think much about it. Watching a documentary on tv that teaches you something is a good example of what I like to call "Unconscious learning" but when did you last consciously study? Was it for work? How did you study and what lessons did you learn about how you prefer to learn? 

If you are going to learn, it is often worth trying to understand how you best learn. At school you probably had a teacher at the front of a class with a board they wrote on and some books to read (or maybe a laptop/pc to study at if you are under about 25). That doesn't mean that you need that format to learn now though. Many people like reading but remember far more they hear and vice versa. Have you tried an audio book or watching video clips of the subject to see if you retain more using one method than another?

Spirit


Achieving spiritual happiness is often seen as the pinnacle of human life and in some theories is at the top of the tree in terms of our requirements (see our page on motivation). Spirituality does not have to mean religion (though for many it does). As a coach I prefer to think of it as finding that state within yourself where you are at peace with who and what you are. This may mean understanding the principles and motivations that drive you as well as the things that have the opposite effect. Self questioning is always a good place to start trying to understand what aspects of your life are leading you to be less effective and why! Only when you have identified some areas to work on should you think about WHAT to do to make the changes that you desire.


Body

This is often the forgotten element and one that maybe should be the first we address since it impacts so much on your mental well-being and spiritual health.
Rather than paraphrase work that has been done by many many others into this field, here is an article that seems to us to sum up nicely along with some basic suggestions as to how to go about making physical change in your life.
http://www.medicinenet.com/senior_exercise/page5.htm 

As always, comments are very welcome.
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Interesting Article regarding career change

25/2/2013

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I found this an interesting article for anyone considering changing their job/career.

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2013/02/19/8-career-change-disasters-to-avoid-at-all-costs

Often we make big changes in our lives without getting the help we need. 

I would be interested to know what you think about this article and any similar reasons you may have chosen to change career. What was your experience?

Steve 
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Lack of training, the hidden costs to your company

24/9/2011

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We all realise that the World economy is facing challenging times. Banks collapsing, housing markets stagnated or falling, the threat of a double dip recession and even entire countries possibly defaulting on their debts.

This kind of scenario is not unique in history, though it is without doubt that this particular recession is longer lasting and potentially more damaging than just about any other in living memory since it threatens the whole World rather than one or several countries.

Historically we know that training and development of staff are often cut in such times since they may be regarded as less critical to the business.
An alternative view is that without ongoing training and development of staff there are a number of costs that the company may have to pay and ultimately these costs must be weighed against the cost of carrying out the T&D.

A few "hidden" costs:

The cost of losing or demoralising staff: Staff may be tempted to move on if they feel their careers are not being advanced. T&D is a key factor in showing staff they are valued! This is somewhat counterbalanced by the argument that staff will not give up a safe job for potential rewards elsewhere during hard times, however, good staff will ALWAYS be in demand and retirement of staff is also a factor when facing a long term recession.

The cost of diminishing quality: As staff training is ignored and experienced personnel move on, so there is a danger that quality standards in the company will be lowered. Lower quality directly relates to increased complaints and faulty products which take time and money to rectify. Loss of image is also extremely difficult to turnaround in the short to medium term. Customer confidence is very easily dented and slow to return in much the same way that a sports persons confidence is generally far easier to lower than to raise - one bad result even after a string of good results can have profound effects. 

Of course there are other hidden costs, but maybe before automatically pushing T&D aside in hard times, it's wort asking yourself - "What's the cost?" 


   
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Rewards and Routines

30/3/2011

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As with most things in life, you only get rewards when you put in effort. Many times I hear people complain that they aren't where they want to be in life and when I ask what they have done to get there they realise that their effort has not been sufficient!

Try to define some goals for yourself and write them down or tell someone about them as this helps us to stick to them. Then look at what you are doing or will do to achieve them. Often "routine" is something we all accept and eventually become comfortable with but "routine" rarely allows us to grow and develop. Having goals and working towards them is a routine breaker. 

Wrapping yourself in a comfortable routine is like grabbing an extra five minutes in bed in the morning. It feels nice at the time but ultimately leaves you with less time to achieve what you really want.

Of course, life must be a balance though. The old saying "work hard, play hard" springs to mind and is as relevant today (maybe even more so) as ever.
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Post Title.

7/2/2011

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Coaching tip of the day: Question, question, question. Find the problem before the solution! 
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    Author

    I've been working in training and development for more than  30 years now including 28 coaching.

    Have a read of the blog and let me know what you find useful and any suggestions for future topics.

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